My First Webinar and other tidbits :)

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in on the Modern Quilt Guild Webinar on Copyright, Trademark, & Quilting - Oh My!!  I have to admit, I was super worried for about the first 3 minutes that I hadn't managed to "log on" correctly and that I was going to miss it all, but just as I started to stress, up came people and I could even hear them.  So fun!!!  

 The Webinar was given by Kristen Lejnieks, an attorney, quilter, mom, and co-author of Block Party.  She gave the address first at Quilt Con and and I am so glad she was willing to do it again in this medium.  I found the seminar to be very informative and most interesting.   With the ever changing case law it wasn't always easy to define what you can and can't do with copyright, but I liked that Kristen pointed out that more importantly, we should just be considerate of others and play nice :)

And since we quilters are mulit-taskers . . .  While listening I drew the lines on the back of my MQG Riley Blake challenge squares and pinned them so they are all ready to sew today.  I love having a prepared pile of sewing.  I mean, who doesn't love hearing their sewing machine hum away :)

Oh, and one last thought before I go.  Tomorrow is Blogger's Quilt Festival and I get to share the secret project I made for Quilt Market.  Yippee!!  I will give you a hint . . . It uses these two lovelies by Vanessa Christensen ;)

 

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Playing With Color Layouts

This morning I have been playing around with some designs for my MQG Riley Blake Challenge.   Since this challenge uses Riley Blake Basics I wanted to stick to the "basics" in my design using HST's, and Flying Geese, and squares.   After lots of playing,  I kept coming back to this design.  It just seemed to fit.

Once I decided on a design, It was time to start playing with the colors.  Here is the bundle we have to work with.    I love that every time I play with color layout in a quilt I create all new designs.  It really is a fun process.  So for fun, I thought I would share with you how the color process worked for me on this particular project.  Who knows, maybe it can give you a few ideas on different ways to play with color :)

I started out with a two color layout.  I love how this emphasizes the design and gives such a crisp modern look.  But, then I decided I wanted to use more of the fabrics sent.   (Although, you might very well see this again for a future project, as I really love the bold look of the two colors ;)

I loved the bold look so I thought trying it in a rainbow type layout might be the answer.  I still get to use lots of fabrics but have a great bold design highlighted.   I liked this, but worried that I lost some of the design in the layout.  Part of me felt like that was fine and part of me wondered.  So I kept on playing.

As I was worried about losing the design, I thought maybe I needed to do a layout that highlighted the actual design by putting same colors in same places.  I instantly did not like this.  Isn't it funny how you think it will be the fix and it totally isn't.

So, after deciding that highlighting the particular parts of the design wasn't the right fit, but still not being sure of the rainbow layout, I decided to just start throwing color at it randomly.  I figured this used all the colors like I wanted and stayed away from highlighting the design.  And I love it!!!

I love how it creates all different secondary patterns that really highlight the white space and bring out lots of sharp little angles.  I can still see a pattern in it but I don't get hit in the face with it.  It is just a montage of happy colors and the randomly layout just seems to be the perfect fit for the pattern.

isn't it just so much fun playing colors.  So now I am curious . . . How do you pick a color layout??

I'm off to the cutting mat to start working on turning this from a design to a quilt :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Blogger's Choice Bundle Giveaway!!!

First off, Thank you so much to all of you who left such lovely comments on my Shabby Hexie Twist baby quilt and tutorial.     They really mean so much!!  A particular trend I noticed in the comments is that you love the colors and prints.  Well today . . . You have a chance to win them!!!  Yippee :)

Fat Quarter Shop is giving away my Blogger's Choice bundle to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is pop on over to the Jolly Jabber and leave a comment answering a fun little question about me and my quilting preferences :)

And for those popping over to or from The Jolly Jabber, A layer cake in these beautiful prints would have also been a great plan for making the Shabby Hexie Twist quilt, hint hint :)

Good Luck to you all and have a Happy Quilting Day!!

The Traveling Stash

Yup, that's right.  Today it is all about The Traveling Stash!!!  I was super surprised last week to find that the stash was heading my way.  I ran to the door when the mail arrived and  had so much fun going through this not so little parcel.  I was blown away to see everywhere this stash has been.  It has been traveling for 2 years!!  Wow!!!

I loved going through my own personal stash and picking what to add to the parcel. Hope the next recipient will like some of these little goodies :)

And then all of these lovelies went back into the box :)

And this is what I kept out and added to my own stash.  So fun!!!

And now the box is all taped up and it is full to the brim and bursting at the seams.  Now all it needs is an address to be sent to :)

So . . . . Do you want a chance for the Traveling Stash to make it's way to your home.  Just leave me a comment and you could be the next person to sift through it's contents ;)  And please, due to mailing costs, just U.S. entries this time.  Sorry international folks, I will get you on the next one :)

I will randomly choose a winner on Saturday, the 26th :)

That's it for today.  I am off to play on the Long Arm this morning ;)  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Shabby Hexie Twist - A Baby Quilt Tutorial

**Note - For those of you popping over from The Jolly Jabber, A layer cake in these beautiful prints would have also been a great plan for making the Shabby Hexie Twist quilt, hint hint :)

I am so excited to share my newest finish and tutorial with you.  I got the idea for this quilt when I was having an itch to do some raw edge applique.  I just love the look and feel of all those shabby raw edges crinkled from the dryer.  The idea then morphed into a sliced up, mixed up, raw edge, hexie tutorial  and I call it Shabby Hexie Twist :)

So, let's get right to it.  To make your own Shabby Hexie Twist baby quilt you will need:

   15 Fat Quarters
   3/8 Yard for Binding
   1 1/4 Yard for Backing
 
I was so excited to use my Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle  (which is now available) for this project.  I absolutely love these colors together and the prints are just fantastic.    Thanks again Fat Quarter Shop for having me as part of your Blogger's Choice program.  So fun!!!

For this project, you will also need a Hexagon Ruler.  I choose to use the You Hexie Thing (catchy name) Ruler by June Tailor and the tutorial is based around this ruler.  This is a great ruler for allowing you to cut all different size hexies :)

One note about this ruler.   After cutting my first few Hexie's and making quite a few mistakes on lining the ruler up, I decided I needed a little color grid help. Yup, just black lines are confusing to me, what can I say, I like color :)   I found it vastly helpful to color the adjoining lines like so.  Just a little tidbit that you might find helpful as well ;)

STEP 1 - CUTTING

Okay, so to start, we need to trim our first fat quarter (after it has been pressed of course) into two strips of 9 1/4" each.  Depending on how generously your fat quarter has been cut will determine the orientation :)

The 9 1/4" strips will allow us to cut heaxagons with 5" finished sides.

Place your ruler onto the strip aligning the top and the bottom of the strip with the corresponding mark on your ruler  (the yellow one )  Also align the left hand side of the strip with the mark on the ruler.  Once you are all lined up, place your rotarty cutter in the designated slot and cut in the slot.  Repeat for the other side.  (Where the yellow lines are added.)    Note - Like any slot ruler, be careful to align your blade directly in the slot and not on the plastic of the ruler, it will dull your blade and nick your ruler, found from experience :)

Once you have cut the first two slots, rotate your ruler 90 degrees and once again, align the top and bottom.  You can also align the left hand side where you just cut.  Once all sides are aligned along the yellow line, cut the two remaining sides using the designated slots.

And you have a perfect hexagon.  Yippee!!

Repeat the process cutting another 5" finished side hexagon out of the second 9 1/4" strip.  Set the 2 large hexagons aside.

Now, from the remainder of the strips we will cut the "applique" hexagons.  Using the guide shown above, cut the strips into width's for other sized hexagons.  Mine will make a 3" side hexagon, a 1 1/2" side hexagon, and a 4" side hexagon.

Now, cut your hexagons from the new strips the exact same way as before using the designated grid.  In this example I am using the purple lines.  Once again, having the color grid really helps when you start moving to these middle lines ;)

Repeat for all your strips.  You will have 4 to 5 hexagons cut from your fat quarter.

Now Repeat for all 15 of your fat quarters being sure to get 2 large hexagons from each fat quarter.  Note - After cutting the first fat quarter I wanted to speed the cutting up a bit so I cut the 2 large hexies first and then from the remaining strips and cut rectangles from the strips to cut the applique hexies from.  This allowed me to stack up the rectangles and cut one size all at once.

They cut the exact same way, its just that there is no excess on the sides.  The exact square sizes are as follows:  1 1/2" - 3 1/8" x 3 5/8"       2" - 4" x 4 5/8"     2 1/2" - 4 7/8" x 5 3/4"  
   3" - 5 3/4" x 6 5/8"       3 1/2" - 6 5/8" x 7 5/8"     4" - 7 1/2" x 8 3/4"     4 1/2" - 8 3/8" x 9 3/4"
   5" - 9 1/4" x 10 5/8"    
             

So once you are all done cutting you will have 30 large 5" finished sides hexagons, 2 from each of your 15 fat quarters, and a whole lot of Applique hexagons in varying sizes.

STEP 2 - APPLIQUE

And now we move on to the applique part.  Grab your first large hexie and any applique hexie.  Center the applique onto the large hexie.  You can measure or just eyeball.  I just eyeballed it and little errors on centering will get sucked into the seam allowance so don't stress.  Pin the applique in place to the large hexie.

Now, move over to your sewing machine.  Secure stitch your applique to your large hexie.  To get the shabby fun edges, stitch a 1/4" straight stitch from the edge of your applique.  Pivot 1/4" from the edges and sew all around the applique, back stitching a stitch or two at the beginning and end.

And now your hexies are attached.  You can add another layer or call it good.  Then move onto your next large hexie.

Before you know it you have a pile of appliqued hexies.  Be sure to applique all 30 :)

STEP 3 - SUB-CUTTING

Now it is time for a little slicing.  Align your appliqued hexie on your mat with the points matching on a vertical line. Using your long ruler, cut the hexagon in half from point to point.  Cut all 30 hexagons in half.

Now, take 10 halves (preferably all different) and cut them in half again to make 20 quarters total.  To cut them, align the flat side along a horizontal line centering it with the vertical lines.  Cut .

STEP 4 - QUILT TOP

And now the fun part.  Layout your half and quarter hexagons as shown below.  You will be making 10 rows that start and end with a quarter hexagon and have 5 half hexagons in the row.  Play with the layout until you have the colors and prints all placed in a manor that is pleasing to the eye.   I find it helpful to mark the tops of my rows here so I don't have to worry about mixing up my placement.

And now, we can sew the hexies into rows.  Start with the first row.  Place the first piece in the row (the quarter hexie) onto the second with right sides together and aligning raw edges.  You will have 1/4" tail overhang on each edge.  Pin in place and sew 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press.

Now, place the third piece in the row, onto the now sewn together first and second piece in the same fashion aligning raw edges and ensuring the 1/4" tail overhangs.  Sew 1/4" seam and press.

Continue in this fashion adding piece by piece until you have sewn he entire row together.

Then repeat the process for all 10 rows.   Once again, it is helpful to mark your rows, especially if you decide to start assembly line sewing :)

And now you are almost done, just sewing the rows together is left.  I like to sew the rows together by first making sets of 2.  Place the first row onto the second with right sides together.  Align the raw edges and all of the seams, they will match up perfectly.  Pin the seams.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press.  Repeat for the remaining rows.

Once the rows are sets of 2 simple sew the double rows into a quilt top. Place the first double row onto the second with right sides together, align and pin seams and sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press.

Repeat adding the third, then fourth, and then finally the fifth double row.  And then stand back and smile because your quilt top is done.

STEP 5 - FINISHING

Now just to finish.  Time to baste it, quilt it, and bind it.   And yes, that is a whole lot of work in one little sentence.  If you are new to quilting, you might find these video tutorials on finishing your quilt helpful with this step ;)

And be sure when quilting your top, not to tack down all your raw edges  You don't want to lose all of that shabby goodness.   I quilted my top in an organic straight stitch echoing the hexagon pattern.

And last but not least, wet your quilt down and then throw it in the dryer so you can enjoy all of that shabby raw edge goodness.  Clip any loose threads that might have built up in the dryer session.    And you are done.   

 You now have one adorable 40" x 44" Shabby Hexie Twist Baby Quilt for I am sure, one adorable little wee one.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and if you do make your own Shabby Hexie Baby Quilt I would love to see it.  You can add it to my Flickr group here ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking this finish up to Sarah's and Amanda's ;)